


a hundred veils to fall each moment

by elouanwrites



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And THAT is canon, Dom/sub Undertones, Fisting, M/M, Maul was replaced as apprentice before Naboo, Mind Sex, Porn with Feelings, Praise Kink, This was supposed to be a PWP, almost forgot the mind sex, and is now a pirate, and vestigial barbs, but then they leaked their feelings all over it, it just makes sense okay, just go with it, maul is very gay and very dramatic, no i will not explain, pirate!Maul, zabrak have retractable dicks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:08:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29522715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elouanwrites/pseuds/elouanwrites
Summary: Sometimes, Maul came to him in a rage, seeking a fight and a fuck and nothing else, and Alpha was happy to provide it. An all out no holds barred spar wasn’t often found for him, these days, and when he came upon the darksider that first time, him leading a few squads out to a deserted planet for survival training and Maul hiding out to heal from a clash with a rival, well. What else was he to do, but fight him? When Alpha tripped over one of the Republic’s Most Wanted in the middle of nowhere, he certainly couldn’t just let himgo.And when he lost that fight, when Maul decided not to kill him, just stood over him with panting breaths and a raised brow, Alpha was hard pressed to determine if the spinning in his head was from the pirate’s blows or his beauty. Glaring down at him, all vibrant red and pitch black with honey brown horns, flushed from exertion, his golden eyes wild and an offer on his lips, well. Was Alpha supposed to turn the offerdown? And the next time, when Maul tracked him down for another ‘spar’? And the time afterthat?
Relationships: Alpha-17/Darth Maul
Comments: 19
Kudos: 48





	a hundred veils to fall each moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Primarybufferpanel (ArwenLune)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArwenLune/gifts).



> for Arwen, this fic's number one cheerleader and primary enabler ♡

* * *

Alpha kept his fist wrapped _tight_ on Maul’s horn, pressing his face into the metal of his bunk. It would probably leave creases in his cheeks when Alpha finally let go. With his other hand, he slowly eased another finger into Maul’s entrance, rubbing lightly against his soft, inner walls. The huffing, stuttering growl Maul had started this encounter with had slowly eased, raising in pitch, until all that was left was a breathy whine.

Alpha grinned, his face still pressed to Maul’s back. The touch was enough to feel when Maul’s whine broke into a purr, just outside his range of hearing but not beyond the vibrations against his fingers, his lips. With every press of his fingers, twist of his hand, the pirate slowly relaxed in his hold, slowly submitted to his command. _Beautiful._

“There you go,” he murmured, dragging his lips along Maul’s markings. “Good boy, you’re doing so _well_ , cyare, _mesh’la,_ that’s it…”

Sometimes, Maul came to him in a rage, seeking a fight and a fuck and nothing else, and Alpha was happy to provide it. An all out no holds barred spar wasn’t often found for him, these days, and when he came upon the darksider that first time, him leading a few squads out to a deserted planet for survival training and Maul hiding out to heal from a clash with a rival, well. What else was he to do, but fight him? When Alpha tripped over one of the Republic’s Most Wanted in the middle of nowhere, he certainly couldn’t just let him _go_.

And when he lost that fight, when Maul decided not to kill him, just stood over him with panting breaths and a raised brow, Alpha was hard pressed to determine if the spinning in his head was from the pirate’s blows or his beauty. Glaring down at him, all vibrant red and pitch black with honey brown horns, flushed from exertion, his golden eyes wild and an offer on his lips, well. Was Alpha supposed to turn the offer _down?_ And the next time, when Maul tracked him down for another ‘spar’? And the time after _that?_

Sometimes Maul came to him in a storm of conflict, a cloud of rage and want and guilt and desire, seeking to be punished, _forgiven_ , and Alpha was happy to provide it. When Maul found him on one of his rare off-Kamino missions, it wasn’t long before he was shouting and raging but never quite starting the fight. When Alpha pushed him, needled, loomed and growled, tried to force the issue, and Maul snapped and snarled back with cutting words that dug deep and twisted, well. What was Alpha supposed to do, if not oblige him with the fight he was clearly looking for?

Mourning the loss of so many brothers for so long, Alpha found it easy to start that fight himself, if Maul refused to. And when his blows landed more often than usual, when Maul fought almost entirely defensively, never touching the force to aid him, and the sick feeling started to rise in Alpha’s chest, he found it even easier to end it. A hard fuck and harsh words seemed to provide whatever it was the pirate was looking for, and it was far more pleasurable for both of them than a beating disguised as a spar.

But sometimes, rarely, Maul came to him cold, distant. He circled and pushed, snapped and looked away, his normally quick tongue a thing of sharp denials and insults but no dramatics, no poetry. It was then Maul needed something a little more, and Alpha was happy to provide it. The first time, it was on one of Alpha’s few off-planet leaves. A few days to himself, one of the privileges of his rank, and he could choose to spend it somewhere more pleasant than Kamino. Finding Maul brooding in a little cantina was a shock, but seeing him so off his game did something to Alpha’s chest he decided not to examine too closely. Half the fun of their encounters was Maul’s quick tongue and biting wit, the absence of both was...unsettling.

Maul was sullen, cold, out of sorts. But when Alpha softened, concerned despite himself, Maul _shivered_. Immediately afterward he stiffened and snapped, but with something brittle about his normally sharp edges. The softer Alpha was with him in that mood, the stronger he responded, first melting then recoiling, defensive. Eventually Alpha hit on the right combination of soft and stern, tender words to draw him out and a firm hand to let himself submit to. Sometimes, Maul needed someone to be kind to him in a way he would never normally allow.

After that first time, whenever Maul came to him needing someone to hold him down and tell him he was beautiful, force him still, to submit to tenderness, Alpha was _only too happy_ to oblige. He plied him with soft words, with praise, and pushed and held with firm, gentle hands, holding the pirate in place until he melted under Alpha’s touch. It didn’t take long to have him hidden away in Alpha’s small shuttle, bent over his lap in the cramped bunk, writhing on Alpha’s fingers as he held Maul’s face firm against the wall.

Alpha pulled his lips back to draw his teeth across the skin of Maul’s ribs, spreading his fingers and twisting slowly, dragging a stuttering whine from Maul’s lips. The twist of his body under Alpha’s hands was tempting, _so_ very tempting, and he considered for a moment speeding things up, but he held back. Maul needed to be wrecked, _ruined,_ blanketed in praise the entire time until he gave in and let himself listen. Alpha couldn’t rush things for the sake of his own fulfillment, not when Maul was trusting him to take care of him.

Slowly Alpha relaxed his arm, letting Maul’s face pull away from the metal of his bunk. Slowly, he guided the pirate’s head down, pressing him into the mattress. _Slowly,_ he slipped another finger past Maul’s rim, thrusting in slow, but _deep,_ coaxing a broken moan from his throat as he shuddered under Alpha’s hands. He leaned over, getting his teeth into Maul’s shoulder with a rumble, and the pirate panted open-mouthed, eyes closed.

“You’re beautiful, sarad’ika,” Alpha murmured against his skin, breathing out to chill the glistening sweat across Maul’s shoulder. “I _love this_ , love having you wrapped around my fingers, hot and soft, like _fire_ and _silk_.” Maul shuddered, his breath hitching with a hint of a snarl as he jerked against Alpha’s hold. Alpha hummed thoughtfully. Not quite there yet, it would seem. It took some work to get the pirate in a headspace where he could accept praise without a fight.

Alpha shoved him down harder, muffling the resulting whine in the mattress. “I didn’t say you could move, beautiful,” he said casually. Maul jerked again, but his hands stayed clenched on the blanket under him, not raised to strike or defend. He needed what Alpha was giving him, needed to be forced to submit to tenderness that he would never allow himself, never admit he _wanted_. Alpha knew full well, after all the times they’d fought, if Maul wanted to be free Alpha would already be across the room in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Alpha hummed again, pleased that time, and twisted his fingers slowly, spreading them as he went. Maul’s voice _cracked_ on a moan, a shaking, plaintive sound, and Alpha, delighted, did it again. And again. And _again,_ until Maul was whining, high and continuous, no longer jerking against Alpha’s hold on his horn, but leaning into it instead. Alpha felt his breath catch, a thrill of heat rushing through him as the pirate stopped testing his grasp, and finally submitted to it.

“ _There_ you are,” Alpha said quietly, his voice a pleased rumble, rubbing his thumb hard at the base of Maul’s horn. “Good job, sweetheart, you’re doing _so well._ ” Maul shuddered at the praise and the touch, but didn’t tense. He was getting there. Alpha released the pirate’s horn, dragging his hand slow and heavy to rest on the back of Maul’s neck instead.

As his fingers tightened around that surprisingly slender column, Maul shuddered again, the tension in his shoulders melting even as his fists tightened on the blanket. Alpha gradually increased the pressure of his grip, both tightening his fingers and pressing Maul down, until the last bit of resistance melted away, and the pirate was so much putty in his hands.

His thighs were shaking where he was kneeling over Alpha’s lap, a tremor that increased in intensity with every slow twist of his hand. It wasn’t often where Alpha brought his pirate to a state that had him collapsing, but it looked like he would be getting there soon, judging by the breathy gasps and trembling limbs. Alpha slowly started to spread his legs, shoving Maul’s knees until he lost balance and dropped right into his lap with a sharp cry, the space between his knees offering no friction for Maul’s achingly hard cock.

Alpha’s hand followed him down, using the opportunity for a hard, deep thrust of his fingers and ripping another cry from Maul’s throat. The shaking had lightened to an oversensitized tremor, now that Maul wasn’t holding his own weight up, and that plus the sheen of sweat on his skin and his gasping breaths had something deep in Alpha’s chest rumbling with satisfaction. With a twist of his wrist he dragged his fourth finger through the thick oil dripping down Maul’s thigh, then slipped it past his rim on the next stroke.

The burn of that sudden stretch, even after the lazy way Alpha had been playing with the pirate’s hole for the last half hour, had Maul squirming under his hand and crying out, his voice high and wrecked. Not in protest or to get away from his grip, this time, but in sheer overwhelmed sensation. Alpha shook him slightly by the neck, letting his fingers slip further around to press against his throat, making each breath a struggle. “ _Shhh_ ,” Alpha hushed, relishing the fluttering of Maul’s pulse under his fingers. “Just relax, sarad’ika, and take what I give you.”

He wished he could see Maul’s face as he fell to pieces under his hands, but that never ended well. Instead he let him hide, let him pretend that Alpha didn’t know how desperate and undone he was, as Alpha broke him apart and whispered sweet words and praise to the pieces. Having him there, soft and trembling under Alpha’s hands, it was enough.

* * *

Nothing existed but the heavy weight of Alpha’s hand on his neck, the twist and drag of his fingers in Maul’s body, the rumble of his voice as he spoke soft words that Maul hated and loved in equal measure. The tenderness twisted something deep in Maul’s chest that he refused to acknowledge, a sharp ache with teeth and claws but oh, the pain was _sweet._ He would hate Alpha for it, except that he _couldn’t_ , force knew that he’d tried. He was a weakness that Maul couldn’t afford, all of this, their entire— _arrangement_ was a _weakness_ and it was going to bite him someday, he knew, but he just—couldn’t bring himself to stop.

His brief moment of introspection was shattered when Alpha slid his fourth finger past Maul’s rim, ripping a cry from his throat that he couldn’t even hear over the sound of his thundering pulse. He couldn’t think, could barely _breathe_ , his chest heaving as he shook, stretched across Alpha’s muscular thighs while the man tore his composure to shreds like no one he’d ever known, no one he’d ever allowed to touch him.

“Ahh, _look_ at you, you’re gorgeous like this, sarad’ika,” Alpha purred, the words dripping into Maul's ears like nectar, thick and sweet. "So good for me, you take my hand like you were _born_ for it, sweetheart."

He wasn't, but sometimes he wished he _had_ been born for something as kind as this, instead of the pain and darkness he'd been destined for. How sweet would it be, to not have that endless swell of bitterness and rage propelling him forward, to not be striving always for a vengeance he sometimes despaired of ever attaining. Maybe in another life he could have had this, been able to _allow_ himself to have this, to bend under Alpha’s touch without a struggle beforehand, to accept his soft words without shuddering under the weight of them.

His soldier could break him this way, Maul knew. Could fracture him beyond repair, and rebuild him in whatever shape Alpha desired. The danger of it was why he always set the tone of their encounters, to forestall that inevitable crumbling. He needed time to shore up his defenses before he let his soldier rip them down again, lest he lose the will to even try to repair them.

His hands clenched tight in the sheets of the small bunk, Maul pretended not to feel the overwhelmed tears soaking into the fabric where his face was pressed against it, the tremors shaking his frame, and finally let himself go. His panting breaths almost as loud in his ears as the pounding of his hearts, he let himself fall, tumbling off the edge of his self control to drown in his soldier’s presence. His vengeance, his hatred, his bitter regrets, his plans and growing empire and influence, none of it mattered. He could pick it all up again after, drag the pieces of himself back together and pretend it was all he needed.

Until then, all that mattered was the sweet heat of Alpha’s lust, the searing burn of his affection, and the deep underswell of a feeling Maul dared not name, but that shook him down to his bones every time he felt it.

* * *

Something indefinable changed in Maul, once he got to a certain point in an encounter like this one. Alpha almost missed it every time, _would_ miss it every time except for that strange little thrill up his spine, the faint sense of a stirring pressure in his mind. If he hadn’t been so on edge that first time that the slightest of changes blared like a klaxon, he never would have known to watch for it, but when he was waiting he could tell the second Maul slipped out of his own head and into Alpha’s.

He had almost fled, felt a sudden surge of panic at the strangeness, only to be immediately swamped with _need_. But not his own need, that was an entirely familiar sensation. His need was a flame in his chest, a thrill of anticipation, and a heady, eager delight in pure pleasure. The need he had felt then, sudden and overwhelming but distinctly not his own, that was _hunger_. A desperate, starving hunger, soul deep and endless, and it had come not from himself, but from _Maul_.

Once he had realized the sensation wasn’t his own, was instead Maul losing some of his beskar-clad control at the touch of _his hands_ , Alpha’s desire had _surged_ , his uncertainty vanished, and he had set about single-mindedly shattering the rest of that control to pieces. The sharp contrast between the shape of their minds had made it easy to tell what was Alpha and what was Maul when he sought to, when he searched out the feel of tendrils of cold emptiness sliding into and through the flame of his own desire. It was even easier to wrap himself around those tendrils, letting the flame flow into the ravenous void of Maul’s presence.

It was a feeling that he’d never felt with anyone else he’d been with, one he knew he’d _never_ feel with anyone else. His pirate was unique, singular in all things, fierce and strong and proud and beautiful, and he was _Alpha’s_. With his wet heat wrapped around him, with his own flame wrapped around Maul’s presence, Alpha let himself _burn_.

“Are you ready, sarad’ika?” he asked quietly, his voice a low rumble. Maul’s face was still buried in the sheets, his hands clutching the fabric tight even as the rest of his body swayed submissively to Alpha’s touch, but his trembling nod and soft whine were assent enough. “Just breathe, mesh’la,” he crooned, his hand gripping firm and grounding on Maul’s neck, his presence blazing heat and desire into Maul’s.

Slowly, gently, he tucked his thumb into Maul’s entrance, not pausing until his entire hand was curled tight, fully engulfed in Maul’s body, his inner walls gripping as Alpha _slowly, gently_ shifted his arm. Maul’s breathing caught on a sob, his face still hidden in the bunk, and Alpha slid his hand up from Maul’s neck to hook his fingers around sharp horns. He held his breath as he turned Maul’s head to the side, slowly revealing the pirate’s hazy expression. He wasn’t hiding any longer. His lips were softly parted on short, sharp breaths, his wet eyes half-opened, his pupils blown so wide with arousal that they nearly obscured the gold entirely.

“You’re taking me so well, beautiful,” Alpha leaned over to murmur in Maul’s ear, delighting in the soft, shameless whine his pirate let out as his fist rocked gently. With every slow shift of his hand, Maul’s face twisted further in overwhelmed pleasure, the ravening greed of his presence gentled further into a softer but no less desperate need.

“Can you come like this, sarad’ika?” Alpha asked breathlessly, his eyes locked on Maul’s unguarded face. “Can you come just from my hand filling you up, and your greedy fingers in my mind? I bet you can,” he added, his voice even lower, a promise and a threat. “I think we should _find out_. Would you _like_ that, sweetheart?”

Maul choked out another sob, but his presence in Alpha’s mind flared, dark tendrils trembling and gripping tight and radiating _yes yes yes,_ and Alpha hummed, pleased. With his hand holding tight to Maul’s horns, pinning his head so Alpha had an unobstructed view of the rare and beautiful sight of his pirate out of his head with pleasure, overwhelmed with _praise,_ to the point that shame had no place, and pride was irrelevant. There was only Alpha’s touch, Alpha’s presence, surrounding him and pinning him down, giving and taking in equal measure.

* * *

Maul never understood how he could be so firmly lodged in his own body, swept up in the flow of Alpha’s hands like pebble in a river, and at the same time fully enveloped in his soldier’s blazing presence, dragging his fingers through the flames as the warmth slowly filled and eased the frozen void of his spirit. Then again, there was so much he didn’t understand about Alpha, so much that was still a complete mystery even with their minds tangled so tightly.

Even if he’d desired to, Maul would have far too little control over himself to go digging into his soldier’s secrets, not when Alpha’s fist was buried deep in his body, impossibly large and entirely overwhelming. Each subtle shift, slow turn, delicate rocking motion scattered his thoughts, forcing him to breathe around the fullness, to submit, shuddering, to Alpha’s control.

He let Alpha’s hands and presence move him, let the pleasure rise and rise and _rise_ as he shuddered and gasped through it, his cock so hard it _ached,_ until Alpha twisted his hand just right, his knuckles grazing across Maul’s prostate one after the other, ratcheting the electric surge of arousal up his spine higher and higher and higher until everything snapped with a rush. His breath was gone, his voice nothing but a mewling whimper as he came and came and _came,_ shaking apart in Alpha’s lap.

When he came back to himself, trembling and panting and sobbing, Alpha’s fist was still buried deep in his body, shifting slow and gentle nudges against his inner walls that sent aftershocks of searing pleasure through his entire form. Maul still had his presence laced through Alpha’s, shuddering against the heat of his soldier’s desire, not at all abated.

Even as Alpha’s hand slowly began to slide out, with Maul a trembling wreck draped across Alpha’s legs, boneless, he pressed a desire of his own at Alpha directly. It was something he’d not yet dared to do, but he couldn’t help a surge of _want,_ and he knew it was greed, knew he had no real right to ask for yet more of his soldier, but he _wanted._ Wanted to be taken, to be _possessed,_ wanted Alpha to hold him down and seek his own pleasure, wanted to be _good_ for him.

The slow slide of Alpha’s hand stopped, and Maul heard him take a deep, shuddering breath as Maul’s desire formed in his mind, an offer and a plea that he’d never be able to make with words, and Maul waited, breathless and helpless, _wanting_.

* * *

Alpha froze, his chest tight under the sheer strength of Maul’s desire, the desperate pleading echoing wordless through his mind. He’d fully intended to just take care of his own neglected erection, maybe get himself off on Maul’s heaving back before going back to taking care of his proud pirate in the only way he would let him, but the flash of images Maul was sending him were enticing enough that they nearly rendered the issue moot entirely.

“Is that what you want, mesh’la?” he gasped as he resumed drawing his hand slowly and carefully from Maul’s body. “You want my cock, sweetheart? Want me to fill you up again? Beautiful, sarad’ika, you’re so _beautiful,_ so good for me, my flower.”

Maul’s presence flared, grasping and hungry and _please please please,_ and Alpha _shuddered_. He bit his cheek in an attempt to keep at least some measure of control as the widest part of his hand caught on the rim of Maul’s entrance, the muscle tensing around him as Maul whined, high and desperate. After a moment of hesitation, his hand finally slid free, and Alpha released his horns to run a soothing hand down his pirate’s trembling back as his voice caught on an overwhelmed sob.

“Shh, you’re okay, sweetheart, you did so well,” Alpha murmured, his voice as soothing as he could manage with his tenuous grasp on his control. His hands were almost trembling as he wiped the oil off with a nearby towel, his gaze fixed on Maul’s still exposed face, too wanton and needy to think about hiding. _Beautiful._

Somehow keeping his hands steady through sheer force of will, Alpha gently shifted Maul out of his lap, scooting back to make room to spread his loose-limbed and shivering pirate out across his bunk. With Maul’s desire driving him forward, Alpha wasted no time stretching out across that lean and powerful red and black form, leaning down to drag his teeth along the long line of Maul’s neck.

Shifting restlessly under him, Maul breathed out a sound that could have been Alpha’s name as he pressed down, down, _down,_ letting the weight of his body ground the trembling pirate in the present, bringing him back into himself even as he wrapped his mind tighter around Maul’s presence. With a long, shaky exhale, Alpha slid his cock into Maul’s soft, welcoming body, a relentless press until he was buried to the hilt as Maul trembled around him.

 _“Perfect,’_ he whispered against Maul’s sweat-slick skin, relishing in the shudder of pleasure he felt in his pirate’s presence at the word. “You’re so good for me, mesh’la, _so good.”_

His breath hitching soft and wet in his throat, Maul finally unclenched one of his hands that had been twisted tightly into the sheet for so long, his long, elegant fingers shaking as he reached back to brush them hesitantly against Alpha’s cheek. Alpha turned into his hand, pressing a soft kiss to Maul’s trembling fingers as he rolled his hips, thrusting shallowly.

“Is this what you wanted, sarad’ika?” Alpha asked softly, breathless, sliding his arm up the bed to wrap his fingers around Maul’s wrist, holding his graceful fingers against Alpha’s face. “Did you want me to take you, just like this, soft and sensitive, all loose and wet from my hand? Because that’s what _I_ wanted. I love you like this, all pliant and sweet like I _know_ you can be, soft and wet and so _good_ for me.”

The delicate tendrils of Maul’s presence in his mind fluttered with pleasure, the grasping hunger softening into something sweet and warm, and Alpha’s hips jerked helplessly at the sensation. He rocked harder with a low, pleased hum, sliding his other arm under Maul’s body to the opposite shoulder, bracing his body against the force of Alpha’s hips and holding him tight to his chest at the same time. Maul trembled in his arms, his breath punched out of his soft, open mouth in a gasping sob with each thrust.

Alpha had no defense against the clutching heat of Maul’s body, the overwhelmed and trembling feel of his presence, but he didn’t want it to be over. He wanted to keep his pirate right there under him, warm and willing and soft, _safe_ and _his_ , at least for a while.

“Can you come again, sweetheart?” he breathed, tightening his hand around Maul’s wrist for a moment before letting go, dragging it instead down the length of Maul’s body and slipping under it to wrap his fingers around his pirate’s cock. “I _want_ you to. You’re so pretty when you come. Be good for me, and show me again.”

At the first brush of his fingers Maul tightened around him with a shuddering moan, and Alpha cursed softly as his hips jerked again. There was no way he’d be able to hold off his own release for much longer, so he set about stripping Maul’s from him with relentless strokes, slow and firm, his fingers catching on each slide across the vestigial spikes running the length of Maul’s cock, despite the slick oil that had dripped down from his entrance and coated his skin. Maul squirmed in his grasp beautifully, shamelessly needy, lovely in his submission, and Alpha buried his face in his pirate’s neck with a gasp as they tumbled over the edge together.

Alpha eased his hand away from Maul’s twitching, oversensitive cock as it retreated back inside his body, still rolling his hips slow and deep as aftershocks of pleasure shivered up his spine, breathlessly murmuring praise in Maul’s ears. Eventually though, Alpha had to either move away or crush Maul into the bunk, so he reluctantly pulled out and rolled to the side, sprawling half across Maul’s back with a pleased hum.

He retained enough presence of mind to keep his hand moving in long, soothing strokes along Maul’s spine as he came down from his high, his trembling slowly easing to a faint shiver as he melted into Alpha’s bunk. Alpha had to repress a sound of protest when Maul’s presence, twined so tightly through his own, began to withdraw and grow faint, and another as his pirate shifted, pulled away. He never did allow himself even a moment to breathe, always running off as soon as he’d recovered. Alpha watched him stand on shaky legs, looking away, hiding again, and he _wanted._

“Stay,” Alpha said, quiet.

Maul, still turned away, shuddered, the bold lines of his markings making the motion even more obvious, even in the dim light of his bunk. “...I can’t,” he finally said flatly, his voice a rasp in his throat. “You know I can’t.”

Alpha bit back a sharp denial, sitting up to run his hand roughly over his face. “Just for the night,” he said, a step away from pleading, but far more raw than he’d intended. “You’re safe here, with _me_ , Maul. Just—for once, rest for a while. _Stay._ ”

He wouldn’t beg. Even if he’d wanted to, Maul would probably flee immediately at such a show of vulnerability, but he pushed the desire to fold himself around his pirate, to wrap him up and hide him away for a while as hard as he could. Even though he could feel that they were no longer connected, he hoped at least some of it reached him. For once, he wanted to wake up to find Maul still in his arms.

For a long, long moment, he thought he had failed, that Maul would flee into the night like he always did, cutting himself off and building up his walls again, but then the sharp line of his shoulders softened. Still looking away, but no longer tensed to run, Alpha let out a sigh of relief as that hoarse voice whispered, “All right.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

>  **glossary**  
>  cyare: beloved  
> mesh'la: beautiful  
> sarad'ika: little flower


End file.
